E3 2010: Rock of Ages Is Crazy Lookin'

Share.

Insanity, art and balls. Oh, and towers.

By Anthony Gallegos

Every once in a while I manage to find a game at E3 that surprises me with how bizarre and creative it is. In 2009 it was Scribblenauts, and in 2010 one of my contenders is the next game from developer ACE Team (makers of the popular Zeno Clash), Rock of Ages. Strange enough for the way it mixes together elements from the tower defense genre and ball-rolling mechanics from games like Marble Madness or Marble Blast, it also has one of the most unique looks of any games I've seen.

The basic idea behind Rock of Ages is that the each side takes turns in an effort to see who can successfully roll their giant rock into the castle of their opponent. To impede the enemy's rock each side sets up units that range from offensive units like war elephants, to defensive structures giant windmills that can blow opponents rocks off the world. Sadly, not much else is known about the specifics of what each of the more than 30 units will do, or what types of levels we can expect.

But even if the details are scarce about the specifics of the game, it still managed to catch my eye because it has such a striking art style. Or maybe I should say styles, as Rock of Ages features levels whose art changes dramatically, taking players on a journey through art history; one level might have a Renaissance era painter's look, while the very next could take the player into the Impressionist period. I don't know enough about art to point out exactly what periods I saw during the brief video I watched, but I do know this: they all looked quite pretty.

Rock of Ages is slated for release on various downloadable platforms next year, so hopefully we'll find out more about this insane looking title as 2010 ends. For now I'm basing my initially positive response off a brief glimpse at the game's cool look rather than on whether or not it's any fun (because who can tell from a video). But hey, first impressions go a long way.